Two defendants sentenced for supporting terrorism

Manama, Sept. 12 (BNA): The Fourth High Criminal Court has sentenced two defendants accused of supporting terrorism to three years in jail and to a fine of BD100,000 each. The court also acquitted the third suspect of the charges, Advocate General Ahmed Al Hammadi the Chief of Terror Crime Prosecutions said. According to the case documents, the first defendant, an affiliate of the terror group Saraya Al Ashtar, colluded with the second defendant to provide funds to terrorists and outlaws in order to carry out terrorist plots, cause chaos and sabotage, target police officers and undermine Bahrain's stability. The funds collected by the second defendant were also used to support the families of prisoners sentenced by courts of law on security-related charges. The third defendant took money from the first defendant and passed it over to the second. The prosecution relied for its evidence in the case on accounts by witnesses, the confessions of the first defendant and technical proof. The three defendants were put on trial in the presence of their lawyers. Under Bahrain's laws, the defendants have the right to appeal the verdict at the Court of Appeals and in the second stage at the Court of Cassation.